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Shoreline vegetation and general wildlife values around Grand Lake, Oklahoma

Z 2215.8 S559v 1988 c.1
SHORELINE VEGETATION AND GENERAL WILDLIFE VALUES
AROUND GRAND LAKE, OKLAHOMA
prepared By:
Nanette E. Erickson and David M. Leslie, Jr.
Oklahoma cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit
Department of Zoology
Oklahoma state university
stillwater, OK 74078
Prepared For:
Benham-Holway Power Group
Park Towers
5314 south Yale
Tulsa, OK 74135-7457
January 1988
Oklahoma State University Library
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
overview
study objectives
DESCRIPTION OF STUDY AREA
General vegetation Region
General Faunal Characteristics .' .
METHODS
Vegetation Associations
Delineation of Terrestrial and wetland Habitats
wildlife Habitat Values
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
vegetation Associations,
wildlife Habitat Values
LITERATURE CITED
APPENDICES
Appendix A •
Appendix B
Appendix C
Appendix D
Appendix E
Appendix F
Appendix G
Appendix H
Appendix I
Page
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1
2
2
3
4
4
45
8
9
9
18
22
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.-
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29
37
40
46
52
55
59
68
INTRODUCTION
Overview
The Pensacola Hydropower Project in northeastern Oklahoma was licensed
by the Federal Power commission in 1939. The project includes Pensacola Dam,
the powerhouse, and the Grand Lake 0' the cherokees (i.e., Grand Lake).
During the application process for relicensing, the Federal Energy
Regulatory commission (FERC) required the Gr~nd River Dam Authority (GRDA) to I
"describe the lands between the 735-foot elevation and the 755-foot elevation
of the reservoir in terms of riparian vegetation, and the food, cover, and
nesting habitat that the lands provide for wildlife of recreational or :
commerical value (e.g., deer, waterfowl such as mallard and wood duck, other
game animals, furbearers, and raptorial birds)." Elevation 755 is the top of
the flood pool, whereas 735 generally was used as the bottom of the power pool
until 1981. Because extensive shoreline development has occurred adjacent to
the reservqir, both the Oklahoma Department of wildlife conservation (ODWC)
and the u.s. Fish and wildlife service (USFWS) recommended that this study
include habitat 0.25 miles inshore from the 755-foot contour.
The report that follows presents vegetation and general wildlife
information requested by FERC, as agreed upon by the ODWC and the USFWS.
Information on waterfowl will be presented in a separate report.
1
II
i
r
I
I
Sfudy OhjCCfivcs
specific objectives of the vegetation portion of our study were:
1) enumerate acreages of land cover types between elevations 735-742
Pensacola Datum (USGS CU. S. Geological survey elevation (feet)] 736.07-
743.07), 742-755 (USGS 756.07), and 755-1/4 mile from 755 of the Grand River
Dam Reservoir and provide cover type maps; and
2) assess vegetation within major cover types between 735-755 with
regard to its value as food, cover, and nesting habitat for wildlife of
recreational and commercial value.
DESCRIPTION OF STUDY AREA
Grand Lake is located in northcentral Oklahoma (Lat. 36028', Long.
95002'). The reservoir originally was constructed for hydropower generation
but also is used for flood control, water supply, recreation, and fish and
wildlife. The reservoir has a drainage area of 10,298 mi2, and a mean depth
of 35.9 ft (Oklahoma Water Resources Board 1984). Maximum capacity of the
reservoir is 2,213,000 ac-ft, and mean discharge 3.6 mi downstream from the
Pensacola Dam is 6,909 cfs (Oklahoma Water Resources Board 1984). At the top
of the power pool (i.e., elevation 745 Pensacola Datum), the reservoir has a
surface area of 46,500 ac; it covers 59,200 ac at the top of the flood control
pool (i.e., elevation 755 penscaola Datum). The dam was completed by GRDA in
1940 and impounded part of the Grand (Neosho) River drainage system.
Environmental conditions of Grand Lake are typified by annual means of 600F
2
ambient air temperature, 40 inches of precipitation, and 48 inches of lake
evaporation (Oklahoma water Resources Board 1984).
General Vecefative Recion
Grand Lake lies within the oak (Quercus spp.)-hickory (Carya spp.)
forest and oak-hickory bluestem (Andropogon spp.) parkland ecoregions
described by Bailey (1976). The oak-hickory. forest ecoregion represents the
most western portion of the eastern deciduous forest. Bottomland succession
in this ecoregion is characterized by eastern cottonwood (Populus deltoides)
and willow (salix spp.) pioneers in areas that undergo periodic flooding
(e.g., exposed mudflats), followed by establishment of elm (ulmus spp.), ash
(Fraxinus spp.), maple (~ spp.), pin oak (Quercus palustris), and hackberry
(celtis occidentalis) on stable land surfaces (Teskey and Einckley 1977a).
Secondary succession includes dominance by boxelder (Acer negundo) and silver
maple (Acer saccharinurn). Eastern cottonwood also is a pioneer species in
bottomlands of the oak-hickory bluestem parkland ecoregion; later seral stages
are dominated by silver maple and American elm (ulmus americana), associated
with pecan (Carya illinoensis), hackberry, pin oak, swamp privet (Forestiera
acuminata), and hawthorn (Craetagus spp.) (Teskey and Hinckley 1977a).
Prior to impoundment, all woody vegetation within the reservoir below
elevation 745 was removed. Therefore, the woody vegetation now occurring
below that elevation has developed since 1940.
3
General Faunal Characlcri!>licocialions
All field investigations followed procedures that were acceptable to the
u.s. Fish and wildlife Service' and theoklaho~a .Department. of _.wildlife
Conservation. Vegetation classifications were those recommended for use in
the u.s. Fish and wildlife Service's Habitat Evaluation Procedures (HEP).
Data vere collected from the folloving land cover types: upland deciduous
forest, bottomland forest, cropland, grassland/savannah, mudflat
(unconsolidated shoreline), emergent wetland, and steep rocky shbreline.
4
Generally, twenty 50-m line transects were placed randomly in each habitat
type. vegetative cover of the canopy and shrub layer were measured along each
line transect; herbaceous cover was estimated in five I_m2 plots in
association with each line transect. Additional habitat attributes were
measured following standard HEP guidelines and methods based on habitat values
for great blue heron (Ardea herodias), downy woodpecker (Picoides pubescens),
gray squirrel (sciurus carolinensis), white-tailed deer (Odocoileus
virginiana), eastern wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo), wood duck (Aix
sponsa), and eastern cottontail (sylvilagus floridanus) (Appendix A).
Dc)inC _' ", ~:'"
~:~':.'-;';.::,~..~-,;.~'::.:~:
" ..", - ..
in the Grand Lake area (178.6 ac).
-.'.
Wildlife Habitat Values
'. . , r-: '~;_:-F~~.~:-::?:0,;-':-"~:
shore~ine ofG.rand''I.ake, -. ,~'". ~.;':;,:~:
Riparian areas, such as those around the are
extremely important habitats for wildlife (Brabander et a1.·1985) :'and such
areas typically are used by various wildlife species disproportionately
......-
compared to other more upland habitats (Thomas et ale 1979). Riparian areas
'.: .' "" -,,--' ..
tend to provide wildlife with food, water, and cover in suitableprop~rtions,
whereas other habitat types may lack one or more of the three~These
important habitats also can encourage other uses; e. g., cattle grazing and
recreational developments • • such activities can degrade riparianh~bitatsto . .., ." ...
.•... . ' ~.., '.~ ...- .'
'. .:
, ~: "r ".' .
the point that they are unaui t abLe for some wildlife species, (Thoina~" .';..
1979).
Riparian wildlife species can be influenced more by
characteristics than by plant species composition within a habitat "(Rice
a1. 1984); generally, type, size, and ~r~:ng~m-en~'Of can~~/:t:~":~~~:.